Ezra 6:11 - Exposition

Whoever shall alter this word . Rather, "this edict." To alter the terms of a royal decree would in any country be a heinous offence. In Persia, where the monarch was absolute, and where decrees were regarded as "altering not" ( Daniel 6:8 , Daniel 6:12 ), it was a crime of the deepest dye. Hence the severity of the punishment threatened. The punishment has been explained as crucifixion, impalement, and "whipping at a post;" but there seems to be no real doubt that crucifixion is intended. Great criminals were almost always crucified by the Persians. Let his house be made a dunghill Some render " be confiscated," but wrongly. The best Hebraists agree with our translators.

The practice of concluding important documents with maledictions was common to the Persians, with the Assyrians, Babylonians, and others.